NAIA ranking as worst business class airport? Don’t believe that, Tugade says

MANILA, Philippines — Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade on Monday urged Filipinos not to believe the study ranking the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) as the world’s worst business class airport, saying the airport has already improved under the Duterte administration.

Tugade said the study had “no fundamentals nor parameters” which support the claim that Naia is the worst airport.

“There was some press release saying that Naia is one of the worst business class airports. Don’t believe that,” he said in the Duterte legacy summit in Pasay City.

“It is an app based on a study that has no fundamentals, and parameters and you don’t know how the conclusion was made,” Tugade added.

He was referring to the study by the global luggage storage app Bounce where Naia got a 0.88 out of 10 business class score, ranking it 38th out of 38 busy airports all over the world.

The study looked at the airports’ number of lounges, number of destinations served, percentage of on-time flights annually, and Skytrax rating.

Tugade touted how the Naia was classified as the “most improved” airport since the Duterte administration started, adding that its on-time performance is at 83% in 2019, according to Skytrax.

“What then is the basis for this conclusion? ” he said, referring to the Bounce study.

He also pointed out that Naia is a destination airport, not a hub airport, so it has fewer flights.

“Please don’t believe that app. Don’t believe that app,” Tugade repeated.

READ: Naia no longer on list of world’s worst airports

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